Thinner
by SketchingTheFinn
Summary: Cody goes to extremes to become an athlete after a particularly embarrassing basketball mishap. He doesn't know that it may cost him his life. Warning: Eating disorders: Anorexia and Bulemia.
1. Choice

**_Authors' Note: _This is the first fic co-written by Sketchy Ghost and StrawberryFinn. Will get into some touchy subjects, but we hope you like it. At least read it and please review to tell us what you think. Also note: The twins are fifteen in this fic. I'm kinda lazy, so you can do the math to figure out the other characters ages.  
**

**--Sketchy**

**_Disclaimer: _Neither of us own The Suite Life of Zack and Cody.  
**

**_Chapter One: _Choice**

Championship. That's all that anyone could think about in that gym – championship.

Zack was thinking about it… Max was thinking about it… Tapeworm was thinking about it… even Cody, Zack's twin, was thinking about it, from his usual perch on the bench.

There were only forty-two seconds left in the last quarter of the basketball game. Zack and Cody's team was down by two, and the winner would go home with the big trophies.

"Tapeworm! I'm open!" Zack shouted from under the basket. No one was near him. Tapeworm realized it was a golden opportunity and passed it to Zack.

A little too hard.

"Oof!" Zack grunted as the ball slammed into his stomach. He doubled over and the ball rolled right under an opponent.

"Time out!" the boy with the ball called. Both teams came to a circle around Zack. Carey, Zack and Cody's mother, was standing up in the bleachers looking frantically at the growing crowd on the court.

"I'm okay," Zack groaned from the floor. He was holding his stomach in pain. "Just… just got the air… knocked out of me…" He stood up slowly, bent halfway over.

"Cody!" Arwin called, knowing enough about basketball to know that Zack couldn't play.

Cody turned away from his twin to look at Arwin. "Yeah?"

"You have to go in for your brother."

"WHAT!" Cody exclaimed. "But… but… the championship! I can't go out and PLAY during the championship!"

"Cody, honey, don't be nervous!" Carey called from her seat in the midst of parents. "Just do your best!"

"You can do it, Cody!" Zack said weakly as he took a seat on the bench.

Cody gulped. He was going in.

"Okay, guys, huddle," Max called at the bench. "Okay," she started once everyone was there. "Thirty seconds on the clock, down by two, their ball. You know what we need to do? Get the ball back." She continued to explain an extravagant play that everyone seemed to understand – except Cody, who just stood there mystified. He had no idea what he was getting into.

"And for the win, we line Cody up with a buzzer beater," Max said. _Oh no,_ Cody thought.

"I do what?" Cody asked, more than nervous.

"You heard the play," Max said. "Now lets get out there and KICK SOME –"

"Fun," Arwin cut in, motioning to Carey in the stands.

"Whatever. Let's go guys!" Max continued. "Champions on three… one, two, three, CHAMPIONS!" The whole team ran out onto the court. Cody walked nervously to a random spot in the middle of the court.

"Cody!" Tapeworm warned. "Over there!" He pointed to a position in a rather empty part of the court. Cody hurriedly jogged to where his friend was pointing and when he turned around someone was barreling at him with the ball.

"Ah!" he cried, jumping out of the way. He was worried he'd get chewed out big time by Max, but luckily – BAM! – Tapeworm easily blocked the shot and Max recovered it. Cody spared a quick look at the clock. Fifteen seconds. He ran as fast as he could down the court.

Over the course of ten interminable seconds, Max, Tapeworm and the others passed the ball randomly about, thankfully avoiding Cody. With three seconds left, Max barreled in, intending to draw a foul.

She did. "Ow!" she cried, over-exaggerating to get the referee to notice. The whistle blew shortly and the team lined up along the paint as Max warmed up for her free throws.

She carefully tossed the ball toward the basket and made the first one. As the referee passed it back to her, she winked at Cody.

"What?" he mouthed wordlessly. Max didn't notice. She simulated warming up just as she had before and lobbed the ball up.

It bounced off the backboard and directly to Tapeworm.

"CODY!" he shouted. He tossed the ball to the tow-headed boy. Cody found himself with the ball in his hands and one second on the clock.

With no time to think, he shot the ball as accurately as he could manage and let go just as the buzzer went off. He stared after it hopefully for a few nanoseconds.

It sailed directly over the basket and onto the fiberglass floor on the other side.

Cody stood numbly, listening to the mixed hum of his celebrating opponents and the sighs from his teammates. He didn't take his eyes from the basket for fear of the dirty looks he might receive.

"Nice goin', loser!" a particularly evil teammate of Cody's said. "You just gave them the championship!"

Cody remained staring at the basket.

"Hey, thanks, kid!" an opponent taunted. "You should win an award!" The kid walked away laughing.

Cody kept his gaze on the basket.

It wasn't until he heard something particularly hurtful that he took his eyes away from it.

"Code, that was pretty sad."

Cody tore his eyes from the hoop to stare at his brother. The look he got was unemotional.

"You just lost us the championship. Nice job." Zack walked away sighing loudly. Cody continued staring after him, hurt and ashamed.

"Don't worry, kiddo," Carey's voice appeared above his head as she wrapped her arms around her son's shoulders. "You did your best."

"That was my best!" Cody exploded painfully. He tore his mother's arms from him and ran away from the gym, away from the taunts, away from everything.

---

Zack sat at the kitchen table with a soda, skimming through a comic book as he waited for room service to come with the pizza.

Finally the doorbell rang and Zack looked up, expecting Carey to answer it. "Kinda busy here!" she said as she struggled with soapy hands and dozens of dirty dishes.

"Alright, alright," Zack sighed as he stood up and trudged to the door. He opened it to find a teenage boy with two pizzas.

"Thanks, man!" Zack said joyously, grabbing both pizza boxes.

"The other one's for next door," the teenager said, grabbing the top one back.

"Zack, tip him! There's money on the counter!" Zack walked around, grabbing the five dollars and replacing it with the pizza on the counter. He walked back to the door and handed the teenager the money. Wordlessly, he continued on his journey delivering pizzas along the halls.

"Cody, pizza!" Carey called. She received no answer from the closed door that led to the twins' room. "Cody! Pizza!" she repeated, louder this time.

"Not hungry!" Cody shouted. Zack just shrugged and eagerly opened the pizza box, quickly grabbing a piece and dropping it on his plate. Carey, however, looked worried as she examined the twins' closed door.

"Mom, he said he's not hungry," Zack said, digging in to his food. Carey ignored him and started toward the room.

"Cody?" she said, knocking softly. "Can I come in?"

"No. Go away." His voice cracked and sounded weak.

"Please, Cody, I just want to –"

"GO AWAY!"

Carey sighed and walked back to the table.

"Zack, would you please talk to your brother?"

"Mom, I'm eating."

"Zackary… I think what you said to him at the game really hurt him."

Zack sighed. Wiping his mouth hastily with a napkin, he rose reluctantly from his seat and walked toward his room.

"Cody, I'm coming in," he said. He just heard a sniffle in reply.

Zack pushed open the door and saw Cody sitting on his bed, facing the wall.

"Cody… you okay?"

His brother turned and stared at him with red, tear-brimmed eyes. He whispered, "Why, Zack?"

"Why… what?" Zack asked stupidly.

"Why can't I do anything right? Why couldn't I have made that one stupid shot?"

"Look, Cody, I'm really sorry about what I said –"

"Zack, that's not it," Cody insisted, the lump in his throat threatening to produce tears again. "No matter what we're playing, I'm never any good at it! Remember when we played baseball when we were eleven and my first pitch broke the O'Leary's window?"

"Yeah," Zack said, smiling slightly at the memory. That had been one wild day.

"I wasn't smiling, Zack," Cody said. "I hated myself that day." He turned back around and stared at the wall again, tears welling up in his eyes.

Zack sighed. It was true; Cody wasn't exactly an athlete. He was pretty much the opposite. He must've hated being in Zack's shadow.

"Look, Code… you're better than me at a lot of things!" he tried. Cody turned around and stared at his twin, with an odd look of both disbelief and hopefulness.

"Like what?" he said, showing the disbelief in his voice.

"Well, like…" Zack trailed off, thinking. "School…"

"Yeah, and what else?"

"Um…" Zack tried as hard as he could to think of something else.

He couldn't.

After about ten seconds of silence Cody collapsed onto his pillow. "School…" he whimpered. "That's all I'm good at! All I'm good for!"

"Cody, that's not true!" Zack said, sitting down next to his brother. "Don't ever think that!" But Cody didn't seem to hear him. He rose slowly, his cheeks wet. But he had stopped crying.

"You know what?"

Zack looked back at him, waiting.

"I will become a good athlete."

"What do you mean by that?" he asked.

"From now on, I vow to become a better athlete… in fact, I devote myself to it," Cody said bluntly. He stood up and walked out into the kitchen.

"Oh, hey, honey!" Carey said immediately. "Pizza's on the counter!"

"Not for me," Cody said, eying the pizza hungrily but not moving toward it. He shortly returned to his room.

Carey looked at Zack questioningly, and he just shrugged.

"He said he wants to become an athlete."


	2. Losing It

Chapter 2: _Losing It _

This is Finn here. Yes, Mr. Ghost did the first chapter… (Sketchy, you don't mind if I call you that, do you?) I guess we sort of decided to switch off back and forth. Anyway, I'm doing this chapter. This _will_ get into some intense material ((coughANOREXIABULIMIAcough)), so if you don't like, don't read. Poor Cody…

-Miss Finn

Cody walked adamantly to the bathroom, locking the door behind him. He glanced at his reflection in the mirror, seeing the reddened eyelids and the light blondish hair. Sighing to himself, he pushed the hair back from his forehead.

_Why am I so worthless?_ he asked himself, staring hard at his mirror image. _Why can Zack do everything? Why can't I? What's wrong with me? I'm tired of being the Honor Roll student… I'm sick of being the smart twin. I'm Zack's twin—I have the same genes—why can't I do it? Is there something wrong with me?_

He stared harder at himself in the mirror, feeling the tears spill over his eyelids. He wiped them away. He was tired of crying.

He was going to become an athlete. He was going to be able to play. He was going to make everybody proud of him: his mother, Zack, Tapeworm, Max… even Arwin. He _had_ to do it. He had to prove to the others he could be as good as Zack. And on the way, he'd even prove it to himself.

_Where can I start?_ he thought to himself. _I know. I'll get the body of an athlete._

He glanced at his reflection and decided he needed to lose some weight and start doing some intense exercising. Sighing to himself, he walked over to a scale that sat in the room. 114 pounds. He'd have to get to at least 100. _I'll start now._

He wouldn't eat dinner tonight—he'd go outside and run a couple laps instead. He'd cut down on the fatty foods—like pizza, for example—and eat healthy stuff, like apples and he didn't know… grape nuts and sunflower seeds, the food that Zack called "pigeon food". He wasn't necessarily fat, he decided, but he could lose some weight. Well, he actually decided he _needed _to. See, Zack was built with muscle, that's why even though he weighed more than Cody, he was a better athlete. Cody did not inherit the large muscle gene from his father, therefore he could lose weight and become better at running. The faster he was, the better he would be, right? And he'd work on his hand-eye coordination as well.

Cody felt himself start tingling with excitement. He knew that cutting dinner wasn't the smartest and most healthy thing to do, but who cared? He was going to be an athlete—he was. He was going to be the best there could be.

And he was going to start. Beginning now.

---

"Hey Cody!" yelped Tapeworm. "It's time to eat!"

Cody looked over for his dark-haired friend. This day had been bad.

Most of his team members—Cody had to face them again at school. Drew hated him, revealed by the fact that he called him a "loser" ever single time he saw him. Warren ignored Cody, deciding it was better to give him the silent treatment. Max saw him and looked the other way, saying that he had "lost it for them." Jeremy gave him a mean look every time their eyes met. Worst of all, Zack seemed not to be talking to him. Cody knew he was embarrassed that his twin had ruined it all.

Tapeworm though… Well, Tapeworm had always been sort of different. He _was_ Cody's closest friend, and never seemed to see the big picture. Tapeworm didn't care—sure, he was bummed that they'd lost the championship, but he decided it was the team's fault; he never blamed it on one person.

"Yeah, ok, Tape," Cody told him, pulling a paper bag out of his locker. Carey had made him a sandwich, just like she did every day.

He headed out with Tapeworm to the lunch area, and they sat down at a table with Zack, Max, Warren, Jeremy, Drew, and the rest of the basketball team. Cody felt his heart sink as the all of them, except for Tapeworm who was too busy pulling out his four hotdogs, left to go sit at another table.

"Ignore them," Tapeworm told him, while spraying bits of hotdog all over Cody's face. Cody flinched, and Tapeworm smiled apologetically.

Cody pulled out his sandwich, and an apple he had slipped in along with a Diet Coke. He put the sandwich back in his paper bag, even though his stomach was growling, due to the fact that he'd skipped dinner _and_ breakfast, (he'd thrown it away while Carey and Zack were getting into a huge fight). Tapeworm didn't notice because he was too busy making weird faces at his hotdogs.

He ate his apple cautiously, leaving most of it behind, and drank about a fourth of the Coke. If he was going to diet, he was going to do it well—Cody had decided that. Then, without arousing too much attention, he placed his apple core and practically full Coke, along with the sandwich, back into the bag and threw it away in the huge green trashcan. Little did he know that this would not be the last time he would do this.

---

Cody was running as fast as he could. Around and around. Tapeworm passed the ball to him, and he fumbled it, dropping it to the moans and disgust of his fellow peers.

Arwin looked at him disappointedly, but didn't say anything, knowing how Cody already felt for losing them the championship.

Cody looked up and watched his twin's face, Zack's eyes narrowing in disgust. Cody felt a wave of dizziness overcome him. He guessed it _had_ to be sort of unhealthy to play basketball when he had eaten practically nothing for the last two days.

Another feeling washed over him. He _hated_ himself. How could he be so utterly useless? Did Zack hate him? Just because he was a bad athlete? How could one Martin twin be brilliant, and the other completely worthless. Cody tried to convince himself that he couldn't help it.

But he was lying to himself. He could.

Tapeworm looked at him sympathetically, and Cody decided he'd have to do this. He couldn't have pity anymore… he needed to be strong. He needed to be an athlete. He needed to do this.

He'd become an athlete at any cost.

He didn't know that it would almost cost him his life.

---

"Cody! Dinner!" Carey called.

"I'm _not_ hungry!" Cody yelled back from where he was doing his homework. Algebra II really killed. "I'm really full from lunch!"

"Cody! You are going to come out here and eat something right now!" Carey shouted back. "I have been slaving away in the kitchen all day to make this lasagna for you! You better come out here and show some gratitude! Your brother's out here eating it!"

Cody looked down at his homework. He couldn't go out there. He'd be too tempted, and wreck his new diet completely. He'd weighed himself… he'd gone down to 113 pounds. This was not the average weight for a fifteen-year-old, Cody knew that, yet, he'd lost one pound… only a few more days…

"CODY!"

With a sigh of defeat, Cody trudged out to the dining table where Zack was already devouring the lasagna. Watching him made Cody gulp, trying to ignore the pains in his stomach.

"Look at your brother!" Carey told him. "He's eating fine! _And_ I like it!"

She scooped out a large spoonful of lasagna and put it on a plate in front of Cody.

Cody swallowed. It looked really, really good. The smell of tomatoes and cheese wafted out and tickled his nose. He was hungry. He _needed_ to eat.

Making a mental note to himself that he would skip lunch and breakfast the next day, he sat down and started shoveling in the pasta as quickly as he could, while Carey raised an eyebrow at Zack who shrugged.

"Not hungry, huh?" Carey asked, scooping out more lasagna. Cody couldn't help it. He felt like he was starving and he ate and ate and ate, until he had had three plates of lasagna.

"It's good, isn't it?" asked Carey, bending down to kiss his head. "There, there. My growing boys."

She took the twins' plates and put them into the sink, leaving Cody feeling guilty. He'd lost it. He'd lost the fight. Already.

---

Cody looked at himself guiltily in the mirror. He hated himself. He hated this.

He weighed himself. 115 pounds! How could that lasagna give him two more?

Why did he give into everything? Perhaps that explained why he was such a crummy athlete. Athletes did the best for their team, the best for their friends. He did the best for himself.

He locked the door and stared closer at him. He'd gotten fatter already. Oh God.

Wishing he hadn't eaten all that lasagna, he wiped the tomato sauce from around his mouth.

No wonder Zack was better. He was dedicated. Cody wasn't strong enough to be dedicated.

He wished to himself he hadn't eaten all that pasta, but what could he do? It was in his stomach already… it wasn't going to come out.

Unless… Cody paused, trying to push himself from that train of thought. _This_ was dangerous. He shouldn't do it, after his Life Skills teacher had finished discussing all the dangers of eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia.

_But this is just once_, he tried to convince himself. It wasn't like he had an eating disorder or anything. _This is just once._

Cody walked over to the toilet that was in the bathroom and opened the lid. He put his head over it. _How did they do it?_

He remembered learning about a flap in his throat or something that caused people to puke. He didn't know where it was, but decided it didn't really matter. It couldn't be _that_ hard to throw up.

Taking two fingers, he tentatively held his mouth open and put them inside. Nothing was happening. Maybe he had to put them in harder. He shoved his index and middle finger into the back of his throat. Still nothing.

Shuddering, he drew his fingers out. He couldn't do this. This wasn't right. This wasn't healthy.

_Stop being such a coward_, came a voice in his mind. _Zack would do it if he had to. It's for the team. You need to do it if you want to be an athlete._

_I can't_, he told that voice.

_Loser_, came Drew's voice, ringing in his head. _You pathetic loser. _

_I'm not_, he said back. _I'll do it._

Putting his head over the toilet again, he determinedly rammed his two fingers into the back of his throat. He gagged, and pulled them out again. _Stop being such a loser Cody. Do what you need to do._

_Slam_. He trembled and pushed again, feeling his finger poke the back of his throat, causing him to gag. He shivered suddenly, and suddenly convulsed, completely losing it. He leaned over the bowl and vomited until his insides felt raw. He puked and puked until he couldn't throw up anymore. Watching the pasta come up again made him feel even more nauseous, and he vomited even more. He threw up until he had completely emptied everything that had been in his stomach.

Cody drew back and stared at the toilet bowl, wiping at the corners of his mouth with the back of his hand. _That_ had been hard.

He flushed the toilet, trying not to look at what was inside it and walked over to the sink. His fingers trembled as he put a hand on the handle and turned it on. Cupping his hands in the sink, he brought up water to his mouth and rinsed his mouth, trying to get rid of the feeling that he had just disposed of his entire dinner—which he had.

He'd done it. He'd almost backed down though. There had to be an easier way.

_I'll just not eat_, he decided. _If I have to, I'll puke—but I have to find a better way to do it. And I can't let Mom or Zack or even Tapeworm find out._

He washed his face, realizing that he was shivering feverishly. He rinsed his mouth again, but decided he couldn't take any chances and decided to brush his teeth as well. He came out, looking fine, just a little pale, but Carey and Zack didn't say anything.

Cody headed off to his room, and turned on the computer, closing the door behind him. Opening an Internet Explorer window, he went to Google and typed in the search bar. Vomiting aid. He clicked enter, looking around nervously to make sure no one was watching him. He scrolled down the results and pulled out a pad of paper.

Taking a pencil in his shaking hand, he wrote down one word. Ipecac.

Duh duh duhnnn... Haha, sorry Mr. Ghost. I couldn't wait. I needed to post this chapter to see if people liked my writing skills more than yours.

-Miss Finn

The hint is to review.


	3. A Secret Not Well Kept

**Author's Note: **Welcome back, Sketchy here. In this chapter, which I wrote… stuff happens. If you want to know what stuff, you have to read it.

**Mini-Disclaimer:** Neither of us own Ipecac. We don't own the company, and I'm praying we don't own any of the products. I do not recommend purchasing/using it. We also don't own Google or Henry Ford, and of course, we still don't own tSLoZaC.

**Chapter Three: **A Secret Not Well Kept

---

Cody woke up the next day, Thursday, feeling odd. He could feel something strange as he woke up in bed. First he felt the painful stabs of hunger. "Uggh," he groaned. He opened his eyes to see Zack already up and dressed.

"C'mon Cody, let's get some breakfast," he said. At the word "breakfast" another jab of hunger attacked his stomach. He was famished.

He slowly pulled himself out of bed, which curiously required some effort. When he stepped onto the floor, he had to grab the side of his bed because his legs felt weak.

"You okay, bro?" Zack asked on his way out the door.

"Yeah," Cody managed. Zack shrugged and continued out into the kitchen.

When he found his sea legs, Cody got dressed and walked carefully into the bathroom to weigh himself. 113 again. All that puking for two lousy pounds. Well, it was better than nothing.

Although still weak, he managed to walk steadily out into the kitchen. His mother looked up at him and motioned toward the table where a tall stack of pancakes was placed at his seat. He practically salivated.

He almost bolted for the food. _Stop!_ He told himself. _You'll gain back the weight from those alone! _He remembered his mental note to skip breakfast and lunch today after the mess of lasagna he ate the night before. But the lasagna didn't mean anything anymore because he had thrown it back up… maybe just a little breakfast…

His mind kept waging a war for nearly a minute. Carey looked up again to find him still standing where he was before. "Honey, you okay?"

"Yeah, Mom," he said. He could still taste the dull, horrific taste of vomit somewhere in his mouth. A couple pancakes would fix that…

"Um, I gotta go… I told Tapeworm I'd work on our… project!" Cody said, hastily grabbing his backpack and running out the door. Even though he wasn't going to eat it, force of habit made him grab his lunch bag off the counter before he left. Carey shrugged it off, but Zack was deep in thought.

_What project?_

---

Cody walked briskly down the sidewalk toward the library near his school. He only now noticed the food he held in his hands and impulse swept over him.

He opened the bag and found a slice of leftover pizza, a Coke, and five dollars to pay for use of the cafeteria microwave. He drooled over the food. He almost reached in and ate the pizza cold right there.

_Don't do it! _he told himself. He restrained his hand continued walking, ignoring the lunch bag he held tightly in his left hand.

When he arrived at the library he thought of something. He walked around to the back and, as he expected, found a dumpster.

Before his hunger could tell him anything, he threw the lunch bag into the large dumpster and ran back around to the doorway.

---

After about fifteen minutes of reading (where more than once all the words turned into steaks and tacos from Cody's vision) in the library, Cody decided he'd better head to school. He put the book he had been looking at back on the shelf, grabbed his schoolbooks and preceded toward the door.

"Done already, Cody?" Miss Lyons, the friendly, gray-haired librarian, asked. Cody spent so much time in the library that she had learned his name by heart.

"Yeah," Cody replied, fairly loudly. Miss Lyons' hearing wasn't that good anymore, but it was more to hide a particularly loud quake from his stomach. "I've gotta get to school."

"Okay dear, but come back soon," Miss Lyons said with a warm smile. Cody smiled back weakly and continued out the door.

Cody walked slowly toward his school across the street. He swore his stomach groaned ten times before he reached the sidewalk on the opposite side of the road.

He caught sight of Tapeworm talking to Max away from the group of kids waiting for the bell to ring. Cody stood behind a tree near them so he was in earshot but out of sight.

"Why are you hanging out with him?" he heard Max ask.

"Look, Max, you need to think for a second," Tapeworm said. "If you hadn't missed that three-pointer in the third quarter, we wouldn't have even been in that position."

"Nobody our age makes three-pointers!" Max retaliated.

"Then you should've gone closer for a shot you could make," Tapeworm said calmly. "Max, come on. It was just one shot. It wasn't Cody's fault we lost the game, it was everyone's fault. If everyone had played a little better, we would've won!" Cody risked a quick glance around the tree to see Max put her hands on her hips. Tapeworm continued, "And besides, Cody had barely played all year. You can't blame him for not being ready for a game! And one missed shot doesn't mean he isn't the same truly nice, good-hearted kid he is."

"That championship was supposed to be the highlight of my childhood," Max said coldly with a touch of sadness. "He took it from me, and I won't forgive him for that."

"Cody didn't take it from you!" Tapeworm yelled to Max's back as she was walking toward the now open doors of the school. "It wasn't only him!" Max ignored him.

Cody stepped out from behind the tree. Tapeworm turned around and looked surprised to see him.

"Thanks," Cody said. Tapeworm smiled.

"No problem, buddy."

---

Cody trembled with hunger. It was fourth period – the period right before lunch. But it was also History, one of Cody's all-time least favorite classes. It never seemed to end.

"For the last ten minutes of class I'll let you research your historical figures," Mr. Harrison, Cody's history teacher, announced. Cody stood up, slowly letting pressure flow into his legs. He feels weak, but he can make it to a computer.

He went to Google and entered Henry Ford into the search bar, but he didn't get anything done. He couldn't concentrate on studying – he was too hungry. After ten endless minutes the bell finally rang.

He stood up and trudged to his desk where his backpack was. He sat down in his seat for a few seconds to regain his little energy and stood up with his backpack.

His legs gave out and he collapsed.

"Cody?" Lily, a nice enough girl in Cody's history class, asked. "Are you okay?"

Cody tried to stand up. He had collapsed under the weight of his backpack. He moved it off of himself and stood up, almost falling again

"Cody, you don't look so good," Lily stated. "Want me to bring you to the nurse?"

Cody shook his head and trudged wordlessly through the crowd of people who had surrounded him. Mr. Harrison, a friendly man, looked fairly worried but didn't comment.

"Hey, Cody!" Tapeworm said as he caught up with his friend on their way to the cafeteria. "Hey, where's your lunch?"

"My mom gave me some money and I lost it," Cody lied. He had to avoid eating lunch today and throwing his lunch away had helped.

"Oh," Tapeworm said. "Well, my mom gave me an extra hot dog today, you want it?" Cody desperately wanted to say yes, but he forced himself to shake his head.

"Are you sure?" Tapeworm tried. "You really don't look so well. I think you should get something to eat."

"No!" Cody said moodily. "I'm not hungry, okay?"

Tapeworm looked surprised. "Okay, okay! But you know…"

"What?" Cody asked, just as moodily.

"I don't believe you."

"Why not? Do you think I'm fasting to get good at sports? Do you think I'm crash dieting and that's why I'm so weak and look so bad? Well, fine then, you're right! Okay? There! I said it!"

Tapeworm stared at him and stopped short. "Cody, you have to stop!"

"I can't!" Cody said. "Everyone on the team hates me now, even Arwin, even Zack! Even me! I have to redeem myself! I just want to be good at something other than school!"

"Cody, what you're doing is dangerous! It could kill you!"

"No it couldn't," Cody denied. Somewhere he knew how dangerous it was, but he wasn't going to admit it.

"Cody," Tapeworm said, thrusting his hand into his lunch bag. He whipped out three of his five hot dogs. "Here! Eat these, you need to!"

"NO!" Cody yelled. He wanted so badly to reach out and take them. He wanted them so badly, but he didn't take them. Instead, he sat down on the grass and started crying. Luckily everyone was in the lunch area by now so only Tapeworm could see him.

Tapeworm sat down next to him and rubbed his back. "Cody, you know how bad this is! People have died doing this!"

"I have to," Cody whimpered. "I have to."

Tapeworm sighed. "If you won't stop by yourself, I'll just tell your mom and Zack." Cody looked up at him with fearful eyes.

"No, please Tapeworm! Don't do that, please!" He looked desperate.

"Cody, I –"

"Don't Tapeworm!" Cody said, looking at him with puppy dog eyes. But this time they weren't just trying to get something he wanted – they looked involuntary. He really meant it.

Tapeworm heaved another great sigh and was inclined to agree. He couldn't hurt Cody.

But somehow he felt like by agreeing he was hurting him.

---

So Cody painfully went that day without lunch. But by basketball, he was even hungrier and weaker than before.

He avoided eye contact in the locker room and walked slowly to the gym. Since practice yesterday hadn't been too good, he had to make sure he did well today.

They started with a three-on-two drill. Cody was on offense and he jogged as fast as he could down the court with his teammates.

He felt a wave of dizziness as the ball came toward him and he grabbed his head instead of the ball. The dizziness subsided and his vision focused on a glare from Bob. Cody sighed.

A few minutes later they started free throws. Cody stood last in line to take his shots, as he couldn't get there fast enough.

When it was almost his turn the dizziness returned and he felt his knees weaken. He crouched down and by the time he could get back up people were shouting at him to get up and shoot.

He missed his free throw – the ball didn't even reach the basket because he was too weak.

He returned to the back of the line, receiving a mixed reaction of glares and snickers.

They started doing passing drills and thankfully he was partnered with Tapeworm – Arwin figured that would probably be best and Cody agreed.

But after two passes the dizziness returned and Cody's legs gave out. He noticed a few people turn to look at him, including Zack, before he blacked out.

---

"Cody?" Cody opened his eyes to see two fuzzy pictures of his mother. He shakes his head weakly to focus his vision. "Are you alright, honey?" She seemed worried.

"Yeah," Cody said. His throat was dry and he felt another wave of dizziness. He also noticed the ever-present stabs of hunger.

"I'm really thirsty," he said. Carey reached into her bag and pulled out a can of Coke and handed it to Cody.

After emptying the can, he looked back up at her. "What happened?"

"You passed out in gym," came Zack's voice from behind Carey. Cody realized he was in the nurse's office because he could see Nurse Stevens typing at her computer.

Then a thought struck him. _Oh no. Did I just drink that entire Coke?_ It's full of sugar and calories – he was going to get fatter just by that! In the back of his head he knew he was acting delusional, but he wasn't listening to that.

He stayed lying there listening to Carey talk to the nurse and Zack looking fairly uncomfortable, pacing back and forth with a combination of worry, suspicion and boredom plastered on his face. Cody wanted to leave and fix what he had done, but he didn't get that chance for about half an hour.

"C'mon honey, let's go."

"Um, Mom?" Cody said. "Can we stop at the pharmacy on the way back?"

"Why?" Carey asked.

"I, um… want some candy," Cody tried. Carey seemed to believe it so she nodded.

When they were there Zack wanted to get some too, but Cody persisted. "I'll get it for him!" he finally said. Zack settled down after this and Carey handed him twenty dollars, figuring he'd get a drink too.

So Cody went inside and grabbed two Milky Way bars, one for Zack and one for him. He got Zack a soda but then went venturing into the pharmacy part of the store.

_Where is it…_ he thought, searching the isles until he finally found what he was looking for. He grabbed it, stuffed it in his bag and went to the counter.

"Alright," the man behind the counter said. "Two Milky Ways, one root beer, and one bottle of –"

"Just ring it up please!" Cody said hastily when the cashier gave him a weird look.

"Okay then," the man said, shrugging it off. "And that's… $18.76." Cody handed him the twenty and received his change before rushing out the door back to the car.

He sat down wordlessly, handing Zack his soda and candy bar while unwrapping his own and biting. He knew it wouldn't matter now if he ate it – he couldn't blow his cover by avoiding it. It felt so good in his empty stomach.

When they finally returned home, Cody hurried up the elevator to the 23rd floor even before Carey or Zack could get in. Once on the floor, he swiped his key card in his suite and ran for the bathroom, pulling out his new bottle of Ipecac.


	4. Overdose

**Author's Note: **This would be Miss Finn, again. I hoped that you liked my last chapter (which was Chapter 2: Losing It), and have also enjoyed reading Mr. Ghost's stories. This chapter will increase in intensity, so if you were scared of the others, I recommend, (Mr. Ghost nodding vigorously behind me), not to read this story because you may suffer offense—though I don't know why, unless you are/were either/and anorexic/bulimic/a crummy athlete/in love with Cody Martin and do not want to see him suffer pain/in love with Zack Martin and do not want to see him suffer pain/in love with Carey Martin and do not want to see her suffer pain/in love with Tapeworm and do not want to see him suffer pain/are sensitive to hotdogs, for they shall appear often/get sick when you read the word "puke"/blood makes you sick/do not enjoy the use of LEGO's to open locked doors/own Ipecac and do not wish to see it portrayed in such a disturbing manner/hate all of the characters above and do not wish to learn about them/are preoccupied with your own problems and do not have time to read about others. If you were not offended in any way by the last chapters, by all means, read it and review for more, because Mr. Ghost lives off reviews. I, on the other hand, do not.

**-Miss Finn**

**Chapter Four:** _Overdose_

He locked the door behind him, and sat down on the tile.

"Cody?" his mom called. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah, just a stomachache," he told her.

"Well, come out and have a snack later, ok honey?"

"Yeah," Cody called back, thinking of how good a snack would be right now. He glanced at the bottle in his hand, and threw the bag off to the side. _Ipecac, huh? Well, work your wonders for me._

He twisted the cap off and ripped off the silvery seal. Inside were a bunch of tablets. Ok…

Taking one, he put it into his mouth, not bothering to read the instructions. It didn't really matter, did it? Throwing up was throwing up.

He swallowed the pill, trying to ignore the scratchy feeling it made in the back of his throat. He leaned over the toilet and waited. After five minutes, still nothing had happened. Cody took another tablet and swallowed. He waited again, and decided to take another one.

He leaned over the toilet bowl and waited. Still, nothing happened. Cody considered taking another one, but all the sudden the medicine hit. He barely had time to get his head above the toilet when he started vomiting. He couldn't stop.

The contents of his stomach just kept coming up—the Coke, the candy bar, the pasta that he hadn't managed to puke up yesterday. He puked and even when he tears started to form in his eyes and run down his cheeks he couldn't stop. He threw up everything, and then there came the blood. Red swirls of blood everywhere—his insides were burning but he couldn't stop himself. Blood hit the ground and Cody felt his stomach turn over, as he continued to vomit. He fell to the floor, his head colliding with the tile and the bottle of Ipecac falling from his hand, a few tablets falling out.

Cody was glad for the darkness when he passed out.

---

"Zack?" asked a worried Carey. "Go check on your brother, would you?"

Moaning lazily, Zack rolled his eyes. _What_ could Cody be doing in the bathroom, for God's sakes? He stomped over to the bathroom door and knocked on it. "Cody?"

There was no answer.

"Cody?" he tried again, his voice a little louder. Maybe Cody hadn't heard him. "Cody, are you ok?"

Still nothing.

"CODY?" Zack raised his voice to an extremely high level. His brother couldn't miss it now. "CODY, ARE YOU OK?"

Carey looked up worriedly.

Zack heard a strangled moan followed by a sickening thud. "CODY, OPEN THE DOOR!"

There was no answer.

"CODY!"

Zack tried to open the door but it was locked. He thought about knocking the door down, but then he had a better idea. Getting a LEGO piece he had always used to pick locks from his pocket, he slid it into the door hole and the door popped open.

What he saw froze him in his tracks. Cody was laying there, in a puddle of his own blood, a bottle of pills on the ground next to him.

Zack heard someone scream, and looked around to see who was screaming so loudly. Before he crumpled to his knees and passed out, he realized it was himself.

---

Zack woke up shaking when he realized his head was covered in icy water. "Wha-?"

Carey was standing over him with a worried expression on her face, tears running down her face. "I'm sorry Zack, but I need your help with Cody."

Everything came rushing back to him. He'd opened the door. Cody had been there. There had been blood.

OH MY GOD IS HE DEAD?

Carey was in the bathroom by the time Zack managed to get control of himself.

"What has he been doing?" asked Carey. "What's wrong with him?"

Zack picked up the small bottle from the floor. "Ipecac. Vomiting aid."

"Why would Cody be using a vomiting aid?" Carey's voice was filled with shock.

Zack looked at her, concerned for his mother who was shaking. "He said he wanted to become an athlete. I guess I hurt him. He thought he needed to do it. Mom… it's _my_ fault."

---

Carey didn't have time to be angry with Zack, or to be shocked, or to cry anymore. She had to get Cody somewhere where he could be helped.

"Zack!" she cried. "911! Now!" Zack rushed out of the bathroom, his heart beating wildly. The mess he had seen in the toilet normally would've made him nauseous, and it probably did, but everything else was doubling the feeling. He could feel Cody within him. Cody, lingering on the edge of insanity, of madness, of death.

Zack had to redial 911 three times because his hand was shaking so much. When he finally got through, he could barely find his voice.

"911 emergency."

"My… my… he… blood…"

"Sir, could you please calm down?" the emergency operator said.

Finally Zack found his voice and spilled it all in one breath. "My twin brother wanted to become an athlete so he must've started crash dieting or something and he got Ipecac and he ate something so he came back home and took a bunch of the stupid pills and he threw up blood and now he's unconscious!" He breathed heavily to the silence at the other end of the phone, realizing his eyes were watering with worry.

"Young man, where do you live?"

"At the Tipton Hotel, 23rd floor, please just send an ambulance!" Zack started blubbering as his tears spilled over. "Oh God Cody, please be okay…" he whispered. The operator must've heard it and began working faster.

"Don't worry, an ambulance will be there right away," she said.

And the friendly conversation had ended just like that.

"The operator said an ambulance was coming right away," Zack managed to say when he returned to his frantic mother.

Carey was holding her frail, unconscious son in her arms, silently praying as tears streamed down her face.

Finally she muttered, "I can't believe this." Zack looked up, shaking.

"Neither can I."

**Author's Note: ** This is Sketchy. Finn has been having a lot of her time taken up with school, so I took the task of finishing this chapter. Pretty much the entire second half was by me. So, reviews from this chapter can be directed at either of us - or both for that matter. Just review please.


	5. Tapeworm's Regrets

**Sketchy's Author's Note: **Hello again, Mr. Ghost here. Sorry for the lack of updates, I don't really have a decent excuse... maybe Finn does. Look for one in her note at the end of the chapter. Basically, this is another chapter half-written by both of us. This time I wrote the first half, Finn wrote the second. Hope you like it.

**_Chapter 5:_ Tapeworm's Regrets**

Zack watched numbly as the paramedics lifted his twin into the ambulance. He could barely breathe.

A particularly serious-looking medic was walking toward him. The stony look on his face sent a shiver down Zack's spine.

"Son, where is your mother?" he asked. He was maybe an inch or two taller than Zack's fifteen-year-old build. He had slightly grayed black hair and some strangely odd-looking glasses.

"O-Over there…" Zack choked out, pointing to his mother. Carey was sitting on a bench outside the hotel, watching the events unfold as Maddie tried to console her. Mr. Moseby was talking to the doctors who had put Cody in the ambulance and kept glancing nervously at the ill teen.

The serious paramedic started toward Carey, but Zack grabbed him. He looked at the nametag.

"Dr. Kendrick. You will help Cody, won't you?"

"I—"

"I mean, you have to."

"Son, I can't—"

"I don't know what I'd do without him."

"Son, I can't make any promises right now," Dr. Kendrick said. "We will do all that we can for your brother, but we don't know what's going to happen just yet." Zack let the man go and stood staring into space.

_He might as well have said Cody's gonna die._

---

"I'm going," Zack heard his mother say. He looked at her tear-stricken face. "I'm going," she repeated.

Dr. Kendrick sighed. "Alright. But that's all, no one else can come."

Zack knew what they were talking about. "Who says?" he asked angrily. He didn't like this Kendrick guy.

"Zack—" Carey started.

"Mom, I'm going to the hospital with Cody. You can't stop me, and neither can this creep doctor!"

"Zack!" Carey said. "If he says you have to stay behind, that's that!"

"Why can't you stay behind?" Zack shot at his mother. Carey looked astounded.

"I'm his mother, Zack. I can't leave Cody all alone!"

"Mom, I'm his TWIN!" Zack yelled. "I know him even better than you do! Better than you EVER will!" He ran off toward the ambulance.

"I won't leave you, Cody," he said into the window to the limp body of his twin. "I'll never leave you. And you'll never leave me, will you?"

Zack broke down when he got no answer.

---

Carey was hurt by Zack's comments, but she knew it was just because he was just as stressed as she was.

_He's probably been hit the hardest, _she thought. "Doctor," she called to Dr. Kendrick.

"Yes, ma'am?" Kendrick said in the stony solemn voice of his.

"Are you sure there's no way for two people to come along?"

"Ma'am, rules state that—"

"Please, sir," Carey begged. "My son could be in critical physical condition. But my other son is scared emotionally for his best friend and I will not leave him behind."

Dr. Kendrick sighed. He said something inaudible into a walkie-talkie he had and waited for a reply.

"Fine, you can both come," he said. He put his hand on Carey's shoulder.

"I know what you're going through."

Carey stood silently as he walked away. _What did he mean by that?_

---

Five minutes later Carey and Zack were sitting next to Cody in the back of the speeding ambulance. After minutes of silence, Zack finally looked up at Carey.

"I'm sorry," he whispered.

"Oh Zack," Carey said, pulling him into a hug as they both began to cry. "It's not your fault."

_Yes it is,_ Zack kept thinking over and over. _Yes it is._

They stayed, not breaking the embrace for several moments. When they finally pulled apart, Carey leaned forward toward Cody's face and stroked his bloodstained cheek.

"Mom…" Zack said.

"Yes?" Carey said, her voice cracking.

"Do you have your cell phone?" Zack asked. "I think I should call some people."

Carey seemed to be thinking. Finally, she sighed and said, "Alright." She pulled the phone out of her coat pocket and handed it to Zack.

"But," she said just before Zack dialed the first number. "Don't call your dad."

Zack obeyed without asking why. He and Cody had come to find out when it came to their father and their mother, asking why wasn't exactly a good idea.

He was about to dial Max's number when he remembered. Tapeworm.

Tapeworm was the only one who was actually nice to Cody now, ever since the championship game. He should be the first to call.

---

"Hello?"

"Hi, Mrs. Axle?" Zack said.

"Yes, hello… Zack?"

"Yeah. Listen, can I talk to Tapeworm? It's important." Mrs. Axle seemed to hear the urgency in his voice and obliged.

"SEAN!" she called. Tapeworm came galumphing down the stairs.

"Yeah, Mom?" he asked.

"Phone," Mrs. Axle said. "It's Zack. He says it's important."

Tapeworm felt his stomach turn over in fear. _No, _he told himself. _Cody's fine._

"Hey, Zack," he said once he had the phone in his grasp. "What's going on?"

"Tapeworm, it's Cody," Zack said, more tears springing to his eyes. It hurt to even talk about it. "He… he took an overdose of Ipecac. He's unconscious, man, he's really sick!"

Tapeworm dropped the phone, stunned. Zack heard the crash as the receiver dropped to the floor. Without picking it back up or anything, Tapeworm ran for the door.

"MOM, IT'S AN EMERGENCY!" he cried. "WE NEED TO GET TO THE HOSPITAL!"

---

Tapeworm ran through the hospital doors, colliding with Zack who was standing grimly in front of everyone. Mrs. Axle followed, her face creased with lines of worry.

Zack rushed him over to the waiting room where they met up with Carey, who Mrs. Axle started talking anxiously to. Tapeworm sat next to Zack who started to cry, his shoulders shaking with sobs.

"My God, Zack, how is he?" Tapeworm wanted to know.

"He's really bad, Tapeworm. He's really bad…" Zack's voice came out in a painfully high gasp. "I don't know why, Tapeworm," he looked up at his friend, his face white and his eyes red. "Why would he have to do something like that? He knows I love him… he knows I love him no matter what he does… why would _I _care if he were a crummy athlete… why would he need to lose weight? Why did that championship mean so much to him… it's not his fault… Does it have something to do with what I said to him, Tape? Did I hurt him really bad without meaning to?" His voice cracked with pain, and Tapeworm could only look on, feeling his insides twist with agony.

Zack continued, "If I did, Tape, I just want to take it back… I never would want to hurt Cody… I can't… I can't _live_ without him, Tapeworm. I won't be able to make it if he doesn't… I can't…" he gasped hard, his eyelashes matted together by his tears. "I can't… this is all my fault, Tapeworm… this is all my fault, and I just wish I could take it all back. It's my fault. It's _my_ fault."

"It's not," Tapeworm whispered guiltily, as Zack turned to glance at him. "It's _mine._ I should have told you, Zack. I should have told you. I _told_ him I would tell you… I told him that if he didn't stop I'd tell you… I'd tell you and your mom, but he asked me not to, Zack. He asked me not to… he _begged_ me not to," Tapeworm shuddered and looked at Zack for forgiveness. "I couldn't do it… I couldn't hurt him… and look where it's gotten me. It's all my fault, I'm sorry Zack. You needed to know—you're his brother, his _twin. _I should have told you—I should have been a strong friend and let you know… But he was so scared," Tapeworm paused, breathing hard and remembering.

"He was so _scared_," he continued, "and he knew what he was doing was wrong and he just wanted to stop but he _couldn't_. He couldn't let us down—he thought it was what we wanted of him. He thought it was what _you_ expected of him. He wanted to do something for us… to prove everybody that he could be what they didn't think he could… oh God, Zack. It's my fault… I knew and I didn't tell you and now it's too late… It's too late…"

**Finn's Author's Note: **Mr. Ghost did the first part, and I did the last part because I love Tapeworm more than anything else, lmfao. I hope you enjoyed--you're probably screaming, "Don't die, Cody! Don't die!"--but you won't find out what happens until you review. So click the button already, and tell us what you think. Mr. Ghost has no control over the next chapter, because that's up to _me_ to write. Oh, and if you _don't _review, Mr. Ghost will personally start hyperventilating and pass out, and I'll have to wake him up--a ratherarduous activity that could be avoided, don't you think?


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